Philippe Gilbert (BMC) won the Amstel Gold Race for a third time in his career on Sunday after making a signature winning move during the last ascent of the Cauberg. The former world champion and Ardennes Classics triple crown winner crossed the finish line with a victory salute ahead of chasers Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) in second and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) in third.

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"This was a particularly emotional win for me," Gilbert said. "My wife and my kids were here for the first time in two years. So to have won will be something they will never forget. I have been dreaming of this."

The Belgian made his timely attack near the base of the Cauberg during the fourth and last of the smaller finishing circuits. A series of riders, including Vanendert and Gerrans, jumped out of the dwindled main field in response to the attack but were unable to close the gap before the finish line in Valkenburg.

Gilbert’s move came after the field caught breakaway riders Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen), Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). His teammate Samuel Sanchez set him up perfectly with an attack at the base of the Cauberg that forced Orica-GreenEdge to chase. The move drew out Gerrans and Valverde, but Gilbert launched on the left side of the road with devastating force and soloed the final 3km to victory.

"My teammates really did a great job before the final ascension of the Cauberg," Gilbert said. "They all did a very good job to place me in the best position. During the briefing, it was planned for Samuel to do an attack at the foot of the Cauberg. It was not a surprise for me, but I think it was one for my adversaries. I only had to wait for the best moment to attack. And I did that when it was most difficult and hurting for everyone."

How it unfolded

The 250km classic started in Maastricht and ended with four smaller circuits on the Cauberg, with the finish line about 1.8km past the top of the climb. The race is notorious for its twisty and narrow roads, short and steep climbs, and a strong collection of fans. There were some 34 climbs on a parcours and not many flat sections, making this race a of attrition. It is the first of three Ardennes Classics, followed by La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Under pleasantly dry and sunny conditions, Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) took the start line as the defending champion alongside a series of other previous winners including former Ardennes Classics triple crown champions Gilbert and Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat).

Pim Ligthart (Lotto Belisol) kicked of the day’s breakaway right off the start line and was joined by seven other riders to establish a four-minute lead during the first kilometres of the race. The eight-man move also included Van Hecke, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Matej Mohoric (Cannondale), Manuel Belletti (Androni Venezuela), Pirmin Lang (IAM Cycling), James Van Landschoot (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Nicola Boem (Bardiani CSF).

Riblon and Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) bridged across to the move and they gained nearly 14 minutes ahead of a seemingly content main peloton over the day’s fourth climb, the Bergeseweg.

With a tough 200km still ahead, the breakaway worked in unison to reach the first ascent over the Cauberg, where they picked up another minute in their quest to stay ahead of the field.

BMC led much of the initial chase from the peloton, keeping the breakaway in check for Gilbert, who proved to be in top form after winning De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne last Wednesday. “[Winning De Brabantse Pijl] was important because I am a winner and I’m always racing to win,” Gilbert said. “It was important for me to gain the trust of my team. It is also a very beautiful race and it was important on the calendar so I wanted to win it, but yes, it was also important for today.”

Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Katusha eventually sent some of their riders to aide in BMC’s efforts to bring the gap down to a more manageable distance as the race approached the half-way point. Movistar also joined in the chase and the gap came down to eight minutes over the Vrakelberg and toward the Eyserbosweg.

For the second consecutive year, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was sidelined after an unfortunate accident with 150 km to go. The crash also involved Andy Schleck (Trek Factory Racing), who later abandoned the race as well.

The gap continued to fall when Omega Pharma-QuickStep joined the chase over the Cauberg for the second time with roughly 80km to go. Some of the breakaway riders struggled to stay on pace after such a long effort.

With 35km to go, Boem, Van Hecke and Riblon continued on ahead in hopes of holding a small gap into the final circuits. Boem, who previously tried to make a move on his own, ended up losing contact with his two companions.

A few kilometres back, over the top of the Kruisberg, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) made an attack to try and bridge across to the pair of leaders. He was joined by Fuglsang, Van Avermaet, Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol), but the main field followed just 20 seconds back.

Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) attacked from the bunch in a bid to bridge to Voeckler’s group. Paul Martens (Belkin) and Bjorn Leukemans (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) also made it across.

Van Hecke and Riblon muscled over the Cauberg for the second to last time with just under two minutes ahead of Voeckler’s group and another 20 seconds ahead of the main field. But a series of attacks were beginning to start from the main bunch including a strong but short-lived move from Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Haas.

Up the road, Weening tried to take a flyer out of Voeckler’s chase group but Fuglsang countered and eventually Van Avermaet, Leukemans, Kolobnev and Martens caught back up to the pair on the descent.

The leading duo, Van Hecke and Riblon, tried desperately to hang on to a small lead with less than 15km to go but the gap had dropped to just 30 seconds. Van Avermaet and Fuglsang were the last to remain from the chase group while the rest were reabsorbed back into the peloton.

Van Hecke, Riblon, Fuglsang and Van Avermaet united as the race headed over the Bemelerberg, however, Garmin-Sharp and Omega Pharma-QuickStep led the main field just 10 seconds behind. Ultimately, the field came back together with seven kilometres to the finish line.

Orica-GreenEdge buried themselves at the front of the field to put their favourites Gerrans and Michael Matthews in top position heading into the final climb over the Cauberg.

Gilbert launched an attack at the base of the ascent with three kilometres to go and opened an instant gap. Gerrans, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) tried to respond but it was too late, and with only a few hundred metres to go, Gilbert was on his way to winning his third Amstel Gold Race.